Oooh I just love a nice Butter Puff Pastry, the way it expands with golden deliciousness, don’t you? It can be fancy for a sit down meal; it can be really café or easy picnic food, not quite comfort and not quite healthy all at the same time.

As an apprentice, I learned to make pastry from scratch! Quite a challenge to teach you right here. So for now just buy it readymade from the supermarket. If you want to achieve an extra puff in your puff pastry, just marry two layers together to make it twice as thick or buy the ‘butter’ puff as opposed to ordinary puff pastry, it rises better. Be sure not to make these both in the same meal though because pastry is a ‘sometimes food’…

Baby Spinach & Cheese Strudel
(Makes 6 serves)

This recipe is perfectly light and simple, vegetarian and healthy, great for summer or winter and easily put together in minutes.

INGREDIENTS
400g baby spinach leaves
200g Danish feta cheese
350g fresh ricotta cheese
Ground black pepper to season
3 sheets of butter puff pastry (or 6 for double puff)
Olive oil spray
Oregano leaves or sesame seeds to decorate

METHOD
1. Wash your hands and dry them. Squeeze the spinach cheese and black pepper together thoroughly until it becomes a green and white paste like consistency. Wash and dry your hands again.
2. Place the three pasty sheets on a bench and divide the mixture evenly between the centres of the sheets, lengthways.
3. Carefully peel the plastic away from the pastry sheet, as you fold it over the filling. Roll tightly and evenly as you go to remove air pockets.
4. Carefully place the rolls on greased oven trays with the seams on the bottom side. Score each roll with the end of a sharp knife to make faint cuts on top.
5. Spray with olive oil and sprinkle with oregano leaves (or sesame seeds).
6. Carefully cut each roll in half with a serrated knife and separate into 6 even portions. Make sure each serve is at least 5 cm apart.
7. Bake at 220°C for approximately 20 – 30 minutes. You will notice that the tops are cooked golden but the bottoms are still wet. There may even be some water seeping out of the filling during cooking. Carefully drain it off the tray and return them to the oven on a slightly lower heat. Cook another 15 minutes until the bottoms are dry and cooked firmly, being careful not to brown the tops too much.

Note: Now you can even get gluten free pastry at the supermarket!
Serve with a little Italian salad and your favourite tomato and basil sauce…

MY OWN HOMEMADE APPLE STRUDEL
(Makes enough for 6 people)

This recipe is so much better than pre made frozen strudel. I like to use both tinned as well as freshly stewed apples to achieve a specific flavour and texture but it is quite ok to use one or the other or both. Different types of apple have different flavours…I enjoy a nice pink lady, myself.

INGREDIENTS
2 small sweet red apples
3 tsp of brown sugar
Water to cover
400g tinned stewed apple pie filling (Or 800g total tinned & fresh apple)
80g walnuts (pieces or halves)
50g sultanas
3 tsp white sugar (or low GI cane sugar)
1/3 cup plain flour (wholemeal is healthier)
3 tsp ground cinnamon
1/8 tsp ground cloves
Cooking spray
2 Puff pastry sheets (25 cm square)
A little extra cinnamon and white sugar
Icing sugar for dusting (optional)

METHOD

1. Peel the fresh apples into a bowl of cold water (this keeps the flesh from browning).

2. Remove the core and slice the apples thinly. Place them in a pan with brown sugar and a little water. Simmer until the apple is just soft and then drain off the water in a colander.

3. Allow to cool a little and place the freshly stewed apple in a bowl with the tinned apple. If you can’t be bothered stewing apples, then double the amount of tinned apple and skip steps 1 & 2.

4. Add the walnuts, sultanas, flour and spices and stir until evenly blended. Try not to break up the apple pieces too much.

5. Lay out the 2 sheets of puff pastry and place approximately half of the mixture in the centre of each. Mould it into a cylindrical shape with your clean hands spatula or spoon (from end to end).

6. Wash and dry your hands. Peel the plastic away from the pastry and carefully roll it into a log shape, forming a tight roll as you go, so that the filling goes to the edges with no air pockets.

7. Spray a baking tray with cooking spray and carefully lift the strudel onto it by supporting the roll in the middle. Adjust the strudel back to a nice shape with your hands if necessary. Push the filling tightly into the ends with your fingers and leave a flat surface on the end.

8. Score the pastry across the top of each strudel with the end of a paring knife. Make sure there is plenty of room on the tray for it to spread without touching.

9. Spray the top of the strudel with cooking spray and then sprinkle the extra sugar on top. Sprinkle lightly with cinnamon and bake at 200°C for about 20 minutes or until golden brown all over (including the bottom).

10. Carefully cut each loaf of strudel into 3 even portions (total of 6 portions). If you wish, dust with icing sugar before serving. Serve hot or cold with whipped cream or ice cream on the side.

Steve Anderssen

***